Kukla's Korner Hockey

The new game, after a year to recuperate, train and prepare, has done wonders for some old legs.
Some, like Brett Hull, Scott Stevens and Ron Francis, knew it was time to move on.
Other veterans have been born again.
1. Paul Kariya, once the anchor of an Anaheim Mighty Ducks team that reached the Stanley Cup final in 2003, was written off by many when he was injured for much of '03-04 and scored just 36 points for the Colorado Avalanche.
2. Ditto for Kariya's former running mate in Anaheim, Teemu Selanne, who scored 32 points in 78 games for the same Avalanche. Hardly the sort of performance associated with the Finnish Flash of the Winnipeg Jets, a 76-goal scorer in 1992-93.
3. Brendan Shanahan of the Detroit Red Wings hated the style of play so much he formed a committee to help reshape the product. A two-time 50-goal scorer with the St. Louis Blues in the early 1990s, Shanahan muddled through '03-04 with 53 points in 82 games for the Detroit Red Wings.